LA JOLLA (California), Feb 17: Tiger Woods marked his first tournament of 2003 by firing a closing four-under-par 68 to win the $4.5 million Buick Invitational by four strokes from Sweden’s Carl Pettersson on Sunday.

The world number one finished with a 16-under total of 272 at the Torrey Pines South course to claim the 35th victory of his career and pick up a cheque for $810,000.

Woods’s recent knee surgery and rehabilitation seemed to be a distant memory. “I couldn’t have asked for a better start,” he told reporters.

“To have played 72 holes without being sore, which is a big positive, and to have won the tournament is another big positive.”

Brad Faxon (72), who was one shot adrift of leader Woods overnight, came third on 277. World number three Phil Mickelson (72), Briny Baird (71) and PGA Tour rookie Arron Oberholser (71) shared fourth place on 278.

The anticipated showdown between Woods, playing competitively for the first time since undergoing knee surgery in December, and Mickelson never materialised as the left-hander failed to get closer than two strokes.

Woods, 27, in the same group as Mickelson and Faxon, powered to his 27th win in 29 attempts when leading after 54 holes.

Mickelson, who began the day two off the lead, parred the first 10 holes and bogeyed the next two to fall seven shots off the pace. Faxon’s hopes took a nosedive when he bogeyed the opening hole and he also never got closer than two strokes.

Using these 72 holes as a test for his knee, Woods recorded one eagle, 18 birdies and only four bogeys.

Leading scores (US unless stated):

272 Tiger Woods 70 66 68 68

276 Carl Pettersson (Sweden) 69 68 70 69

277 Brad Faxon 70 64 71 72

278 Briny Baird 70 65 72 71, Arron Oberholser 65 70 72 71, Phil Mickelson 69 68 69 72

279 Marco Dawson 68 66 76 69, Mark Calcavecchia 71 68 71 69, Charles Howell III 74 68 68 69, Luke Donald (Britain) 69 70 71 69, Jonathan Kaye 68 67 72 72

280 Tim Clark (South Africa) 70 70 73 67

281 Craig Perks (New Zealand) 70 71 69 71, Dennis Paulson 68 67 73 73, Ben Crane 71 68 70 72, Fred Couples 69 68 70 74

282 Steven Alker (New Zealand) 69 67 70 76— Reuters